Dry-steam sleeve board



l. W. COX

DRY STEAM SLEEVE BOARD f/ (l i.. f'. .53 j /g' Filed Maron 21.

Patented Jal?! 59 i927 paarse lsrarss IRWIN W. COX, OF DEIJVER, CQLEADO. Y

DRY-STEAM SLEEVE BOARD.

Application led March 21, 192'?. Serial No. 176,965.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in the construction of dry steam sleeve boards of the type described in my copendingapplication Serial No. 150846, filed February 17 1926.

Sleeve boards of the type to which this invention relates are employed, more especially in connection with the finishing of sleeves and trouser legs. @wing to the prevalence of long-nap goods in woinens coats and to the increasing demand among men that their coats be returned withoutcreases in the sleeves, the ordinary pressing operations are not satisfactory and resort is therefore had to sleeve boards of the type to which this invention relates, because these boards apply the steam from the underside of the cloth which raises the nap and permits the wrinkles to be taken out with lightl brushinv.

rlhe greatest objection to steam sleeve boards of this type has been that they have a tendency to convey too much moisture and condensed steam te the material. This has been due to the faulty constructions in which no adequate provision has been made for keeping the sleeve board walls of a higher temperature than the steam used for the finishing and therefore there has always been an undue amount of condensation.

It is one ofthe objects of this invention to produce a steam sleeve board that shall ybe provided with means for drying` the finishing steam before` it leaves the arm.

Another object of this invention is to produce a dry steam sleeve board having a section that is separated from the main part of the cinterior of the arm by means of a valve that can be closed when the sleeves that are being finished have a fur cuff so that the latter will be protected from the steam.

i still further object of this invention is to produce a device of the type referred to in which the outward flow of steam can be stopped almost instantly by opening` a valve in the exhaust pipe.

rlhe above and other objects that may be" come apparent as this description proceeds are obtained by means of a construction and arrangement of parts that will new be described in detail, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment thereof has been illustrated and in which:

Fig. 1v is a side elevation of my improved a section taken on line Qti,

6 is a section similar to the section shown in Fig. 3 but illustrating a modified construction 5 Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7-7,

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 3 and illustrates a slightly different construction; and

9 is a section similar to Fig. 5 and shows a construction in which the outside of the arm is formed by a seamless tubing. In the drawing numeral 1 (Fig. 1) represents the upper surfaces of the floor to which the base 2 is secured by means of bolts or screws 3. rlhis base has an upwardly extending hub a to which the lower end of the support 5 is threadedly connected. A hol low substantially cubical head 6 is provided on its under side with a cylindrical hub 7 which is threaded or secured by any other suitable means to the upper end of pipe 5. The front side of head 6 has beendesignated by numeral 9 and the rear side by numeral 10 so as to facilitate the description. Sides 9 and10 are each provided with two pair of aligned openings 11 and 12. Holes 11 and 12 in the front side are threaded while the corresponding holes in side 10 have one side reamed out or chamfered in the manner indicated by numeral 13. Pipes 11i and 15 have threaded ends 16 and 17, respectively. which are somewhat longer than the total distance from the front to the rear of head 6 and'which, when in place, have their extreme rear ends projecting rearwardly of the rear side and to these rearwardly extending portions reducer couplings 18 are threaded. rllhe ends of the couplings 18 adjacent side 10 are ehamfered so as to form with the chamfered sides 13 of the openings an annular space of triangular cross section which is filled with lead 19 that has been sweated into place so that the resultant joint is perfectly tight. The joint between the threaded ends 16 and 17 and the side 9 are made tight by having the male thread somewhat tapered at this point and then applying white lead. ln addition to this lead or solder may be sweated about the pipe so as to form a fillet 20. The er;- treme outer ends of pipes 14 and 15 are connected by a semi-circular connector 21 which is weld-ed, brazed or soldered in position so as to malte a tight joint. A reference to Figs. 5 and 7 will show that pipes 14 and 15 have a cross section that has been formed so as to at apt them more particularly to the structure of the arm and which comprises curved side 22 and a substantially straight side 23. A curved cover plate 24 is placed on top of pipes 14 and 15 and has its edges soldered or welded to the curved sides 22. Another plate 25 is secured in place underneath the pipes 14 and 15. By means of the pipes 14.1. 15, the end member 21 and plates 24 and 25, a steam tight chamber is formed, one end of which is formed by the side 9 of head G. The assembly justy described constitutes the finishing arm of my improved sleevel board. A short piece of pipe 26 has one end threaded into an opening 27 in the wall 9 and lies parallel with pipes 14 and 15 and in the position relative to these shown in Fig. 5. At the outer end of pipe 26 l have 'provided a wall 28 which forms a steam tight partition and divides the space between pipes 14 and 15 and plates 24 and 25 into two steam tight chambers or compartments7 A and E. Compartment A is in communication with the interior of the head 6 through the short pipe 26 (Fig. 3) but compartment B is completely separated from the interior of head 6. Pipe 26 is provided with an opening 29 in its upper surface and wall 9 has a forwardly extending portion 30 directly over this opening. rllhis extension has a threaded opening that is in axial alignment with the opening 29. A screw 31 has a threaded engagementwith the wall of hole in extension 30 and is provided with a conical point 32 that is adapted to enter the opening 29 so as to form a valve. lt is now evident that by means of the screw 31 communication between the interior of pipe 26 and compartment B may be established at will. Plate 24 is provided with a plurality of holes or perforations 33 and therefore if steam is admitted to chamber A will escape through holes 33 and in the same manner steam will ecsape from the compartment B. lt is evident, however, that by means of screw 31 steam can be prevented from entering chamber B. This is taken advantage of when steaming` a garment having a portion which might be injured by the steam.

ln Figs. 6 and 7 l have shown a modilication in which the pipe 26 has been omitted and in its place a plate 34 has been welded to the adjacent sides of pipes 14 and 15 and wall 23 replaced by a similar partition By means of plate 34 and the end wall 35,

a compartment B is formed. Plate `34 has a hole that corresponds to hole 29 in pipe 26 .so that the screw 31 functions in the same manner as above described. The finishing arm is enclosed by a fibrous pad 36 (Fig. 1).

A pipe 37 extends to the steam boiler and terminates inda T 38. The other end of this T is connected with the coupling` 18 on the end of the threaded parts 17. The threaded end 16 of pipe 14 is connected through pipe 39 and valve 40 with the exhaust pipe 41. When pipe 37 is connected with 4a steam boiler and valve 40 is slightly open steam will flow through pipes 14 and 15 in the direction indicated by the :arrows in Fig. 2. By regulating the size of the opening in valve 40, pipes 14 and 15 can be ymaintained at a high temperature. Since the pressure in the boiler may be quite high the tem-` perature of the steam will be above the boi-ling point of water at atmospheric pressure and therefore pipes 14 and 15 will always vbe at a temperature suliciently high to boil water and convert it into steam at a. lower pressure. Connected with the side opening 42 in T 38 is a quick acting self-closing valve 43 whiclris provided with an operating lever 44 that is pivoted at 45. l-When lever 44 is moved downwardly (Fig. 4) the valve is opened and when lever 44 is not subjected to any force, the valve is held vclosed by the action of the spring 46. The delivery aside of valve 43 is connected by proper piping to the upper end of T 47 whose lower Vend is connected with the exhaust pipe 41. A short length of pipe 48 connects the side opening of the T with the interior of the head 6. A tube 49 has one end extending into the pipe 48 and its other end 50 bent downwardly in the direction of the exhaust pipe. The tube 49 is expanded so as to tit snugly the interior of pipe 48. A quick acting valve 51 is connected in the exhaust pipe between the T 52 land the L 53.

A pedal 54 has one end secured to the floor by means of a hinge 55 and the other end provided with a wire 56 whichMis vconnected to the free end of the lever 44 by means of a spring 57. This spring is sufliciently strong to open the valve 43 when pressure is applied to the pedal. A spring 58 has its lower end connected to the free end of the lever 59 which controls valve 51 and has its upper end anchored to pipe 39. Spring 58 is of sufficient strength t-o close valve 51 and to normally retain it in cl-osed position. A wire or chain 60 ext-ends from the end of lever 59 to the wire 55. This wire has sutlicient slack to permit valve 43 to be fully opened before valve 51 begins to open. Vhen pressure is applied to the pedal 54, valve 43 will first be moved to open position. As soon as valve 43 is opened, steam will flow through lit and through the interior of tube 49 into the interior of head 6 yand thence through pipe 26 into chamber' A and out through openings 33. Owing to the fact that the steam can escape through theaopenings 33, the pressure in chamber A will never reach the value of the pressure of the steam in pipes 14 and 15, and the latter' will therefore be of a much higher temperature. Any moisture that may be present in the steam when it enters chamber A will be evaporated by heat from the pip-es 14 and 15 and therefore the stean'i that emerges through holes 33 will be dry.

If the valve formed by the screw 31 is open7 steam will also enter chamber B and escape therefrom through openings 33, but if this valve is closed, no steam will escape through the openings 33 in the wall of chamber B. If fa still greater pressure is applied to the pedal, valve 5l will be opened thereby permitting the steam tnat flows through pipe valve 43 to escape through the exhaust pipe. A strong` current of steam will now flow downwardly about the end 5() of tube 49 and this will produce a. suction which will tend to reduce the pressure in chamberk A below atmospheric. The result of this is that as soon as valve 51 is opened, steam will immediately stop flowing out through openings 33 and any water of condensation that may be present in the interior of head 6 will be removed.

I have already pointed out the function of pipes .14 and 15 which act as heaters to keep the finishing arm at such a temperature that the steam that enters chamber A will not condense, but on th-e other hand any moisture that may be in the steam will be vaporized.

I now desire to call particular attention to the presence of chamber B and the valved opening between it on the interior of chamber A. By this simple expedient, it is possible to positively prevent the escape of steam from that portion of the finishing arm directly over chamber B. This makes it possible to protect with absolute certainty fur or other material from the action of the hot steam that would otherwise ruin them. If some makeshift means is resorted. to for the purpose of protecting the material, the latter will often be ruined because the protective device does not operate as expected.

I also want to call attention to the fact that my finishing arm has three compartments, one of which is the space on the interior of pipes 14 and 15, and the other two being A and B referred to above. One of these, the one within pipes 14 and 15, is subjecte'd to a constant steam pressure and is therefore always hot. Chamber A is supplied with steam intermittently whenever valve 43 is open, while valve 51 is closed and chamber B receives its steam from chamber A through the opening controlled by the valve member or screw 3l.

The basket 61 which is adjustably secured to the support 5 does not form part of this invention and its construction is therefore not explained in detail. l

In Fig. 3 a slightly modified construction has been illustrated. In this construction the connector 43 is composed vof two sections between which a valve 62 is interposed. Instead of the curved tube 49, I have provided a nozzle 63 from which the live steam issues when valve 43 is open. rlhe nozzle 63 forms part of an injector which produces a suction tending to remove moisture from the interior of the head 6 and the arm whenever valve 51 is opened. By means of valve 62, the amount of steam that can enter the arm when valve 43 is opened can be regulated independently of valve 43 and in this manner uniform action is obtained.

In Fig. 9 I have shown the elongated plates Q5 and 33 replaced by a seamless tubing 64 whose cross sectional shape is such that the arm assumes the shape shown.

I want to call attention at this point to the fact that the interior of pipe 26 is a part of the chamber A and that the wall of this pipe therefore constitutes a portion of the partition separating chambers A and B, and therefore when the partition separating these chambers is referred to, it is intended to cover all parts of the wall that separate these chambers, including the parts 26, 28, 34 and 35.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: y

1. A steam finishing board comprising a finishing` arm having three compartments, the walls of one of said compartments being imperforate and adapted to contain steam under high pressure, the other two compartments each having a wall provided with a plurality of foraminations, said last mentioned compartments being separated by a. partition having an opening and a valve for 'controlling the passage through said opening.

2. A steam finishing board comprising, in combination7 a hollow finishing arm adapted to be connected with a steam boiler, the interior of said arm being divided into three separate compartments, one of said compartments having imperforate walls and adapted to contain steam under high pressure, the other two compartments having a wall provided with foraminations through which steam may iiow from the interior into the surrounding atmosphere, a partition separating.;` the two last named compartments, valve controlled means for establishing communication between said compartments and means for connecting said arm to a boiler.

3. In a steam finishing board, a hollow head, a. finishing arm having one end attached to said head and extending outwardly therefrom, said arm being hollow and havinzg` its interior divided into three compartments, the walls of one of said compartments being imperforate, the other two oompartments eaeh having` a foraminated wall one of said last named compartments being,` in direct communication with the interior of the head, a partition separating,` sai-d two compartments, said partition having an opening` and means for closing said opening.

4. In a steam iinishing board, in combina tion, a hollow head, an elongated U-shaped member secured to said head and projecting outwardly from one side thereof, an elongated plate secured at its edges to the upper surface of said U-shaped member, a similar plate secured to the under side of said U- shaped member, said upper plate having a plurality of foraminations, means for divi'ding` the space between said Lil-shaped member and the plates into two compartments, said means comprising a partition having,` an opening, a valve member for opening and closing said opening and means for Connecting the interior of one of said eompartments with the interior of the head.

5. In a steam inishing board having a hollow finishing arm yextending` from one side of a hollow head, a pipe adapted to be connected with a steam boiler, a valve in said pipe, a pipe having one end conneetedto the head and the other to a T, means oomprising a pipe for Connecting one end of the T with the valve, an exhaust pipe connected with the other end of the T, a valve in said exhaust, a valve in the pipe that connects the T to the head and means comprising a nozzle within the T and extending longitudinally thereof in the directionV of the exhaust pipe, said nozzle having one end in communication with the steam supply pipe and the other end open.

ln testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

IRWIN W. COX. 

